Exercise Science: Journal Articles: Basics

While journals and the library's databases do contain empirical and review articles, they also contain some other items that are NOT empirical and review articles. You will come across these while searching the library's databases.

Unless otherwise specified by your professor, do not use the following:

• Book Reviews
• Commentaries
• Conference Proceedings
• Dissertation Abstracts
• Editorials
• Letters to the Editor
• Master's Theses
• News

When in doubt about whether a source is acceptable, be sure to ask your professor!

Video Transcript (Word Document): "What's an Empirical Article"

Video Credit: Georgia State University Library

As mentioned in the video above, there are two types of scholarly articles -- empirical and review.

Articles that either interpret or analyze original research studies/articles are considered review articles.

• If an article is a review article, it is likely [but not always] to have the word "review" in the title.
• Always look at the methods section of an article to make a determination if an article is empirical or review.
  • The main indicator of a review article is if authors are just interpreting, analyzing, and/or comparing the results of other research/research articles. So, in comparison to a research article, the authors of a review article do not describe an experiment or survey they conducted. ​
• Review articles can be helpful if you are trying to learn about a topic or find other literature. Look at the references to find citations to other useful articles.

EXAMPLES OF REVIEW ARTICLES

• Predictors of obesity bias among exercise science students
• Changing the physical activity behavior of adults with fitness trackers: A systematic review and meta-analysis